Bottle closure



W. M. WEEKS ET AL I BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed August 31. 1925 Patented Aug. 24, UNITED STATES I v I 1,592,130 PATENT OFFICE.

WALLACE M. WEEKS AND JOHN A. PEASE, OF SKANEA'IELES, NEW YORK,

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

Application filed August 31, 1925. Serial 110,315,689.

. This invention relates to improvements in bottle caps, designed particularly for clos-r sealing the mouths of ordinary mi-lku and has for its object to provide a ing and bottles, normally flexible paper closure, which consists of a disc-shaped central body adapted to be seated 'upon, the annular ledge that forms the bottom pf the recess of the bottle mouth, an'd-ian integral flaring collar or flange, which 'is arranged to unfold and overlie and conform vto the flared portion of the bottle mouth, when the disc is forced into the said recess; the-said collar adjacent its base being folded inwardly parallel to the disc for providing an annular socket to "receive the peripheral margin of a circular-reinforcing member of thicker gage "and of less flexibility than the cap; the portions of the disc and reinforcing member that lie within the inner circumference of the annular ledge being correspondingly dished by the use of molding dies, and the vas peripheral margins of the disc and'member comprising sim1lar plane flanges that conform to and rest upon said annular ledge.

-This concave formation prevents the air which is compressed in the void between the liquid contents of the bottle and the cap during the capping operation, from lifting.

the cap and breaking the seal,,followi'ng the relaxing of the pressure exerted during the capping. By formingthe central portions of thecap and reinforcing member concave, and the concave being positioned below :the

of the annular ledge, any upward 1 bottle mouth, as shown in Fig plane flexing of the cap and reinforcing member by the compressed air; or by the contents --of the'bottle in case. the latter should be 3 member, weight paper for the main cap,

- onlyfacilitates the die-work by caps are T of the collar and its conformity to the flaring mouth of the bottlemore readily effected. v

This invention relates particularly to improvements in the bottle cap shown and described in Letters Patent 'No. 1,460,269,

. dated June 26, 1923.

We attain these objects by'the means set -5. The cap 5 forth in the detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 1s a central vertical section; showingthe cap applied to a milk-bottle; a portion of the bottle being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a similar sectional view of the cap in" the collapsed state; Fig. 3 is I a toplan view' ofthe cap shown in Fig. 2.

And ig, 4 is a top plan view of the rein- J forcing member.

In the drawing,

2,represents' the neck of Q an ordinary milk-bottlef --':3' is the flaring mouth of the'bottle,;;and4 .indicatesrthe annular ledge or shoulder, which forms the bottom of the recess in which the closure is usually disposed- .Our improved'bottle closure comprises a, disc-shaped body 5, whose diameter-substantially equals that of the'recess and the ledge 4:, to which'isdntegrally joined a relatively broad flexible-collaror flange 6. 'At its juncture with the disc 5 the collar 6 is first folded inwardly parallel to the peripheral margin'of the disc, for providing an annular socket or groove 6", after whlch the free margin of the collar is,.folded outwardly upon itself, for providing an annular convex portion 6 -of greater is preferably made from flexible paper of relatively light gage,-which may be readily folded and molded, 'as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by' means of suitable dies,'

and whose flange 6 may be readilyunfolded and flared when the cap is appliml to the diameter than the disc 1. Thedisc 5 is preferably depressed or dished, as at 5, g

to the extent of the clear opening of the neck below the plane of the ledge 4, for stiffening the disc and for resisting upward or outthe ledge l. The main cap, owing to the light gage of the material, requires remforcing in order to prevent its disc-shaped body from being unduly'flexed or distorted during the cappingoperation. To this end,

we provide a circular member 7, which mayv be made from card or tag board, and whose gage is preferably considerably greater than the gage of the disc 5.- The dlameter of the member 7 should be substantially equal to the diametric dimension of the socket 6, so

as to suitably reinforce the inward fold 6 of the collar, for preventing collapse or distortion of the margin 6 (see Fig. 1) which frictionally engages the walls of the recess. The central portion 7 of the member 7 is correspondingly depressed and overlies intimately thetop face'of the disc 5, and the peripheral margin of said member beyond the depression 7 also comprises a plane flange 7 which closely contacts with the flange 5 and extends into and gages the depth of the socket 6, by which the member 7 is held in place, as shown ii -Figs. 1 and 2. Inpractice, the cap 5 and the reinforcing member 7 are stamped from fiat sheets of paper, which are usually saturated with paraflin. The member 7 is next mounted concentrically upon the cap, and the two parts are then placed between the dies for effecting the folding and dishing of the parts. When this work is properly done,

the member 7 substantially fills and is firmly air that may be com held by the groove 6', and when the flange 6 is later unfolded, by the insertion of 'the cap in the flaring mouth 3, the peripheral edge of said member will still be ipped by the top wall of said groove, for oldmg the capand member interlocked, as shown in Fig. 1. By this construction and arrangement', th cap and reinforcing member 7 supplement each other for maintaining the concave formation of the central body portions,

and for effectively sealing the bottle mouth, and any outward pressure exerted either by the liquid contents of the bottle, or by the ressed between the cap and the liquid during the sealing of the by reason of the fact that the recess of the bottle neck is usually wet and rendered sli pery by the spraying of the milk during tlEe filling of the bottle, which destroys the frictional adhesion of the cap to the walls of the recess: d I

Having thus described our invention, What we claim,-is

As a new article of manufacture, a bottle closure comprising a thin body having a curved marginal part to fit over the bead of the bottle mouth and a permanently concaved bottom, thick reinforcing member of equal thickness and diameter having a'plane annular flange with a continuous circular peripheral edge conforming to and seated on said concave bottom of the body, said body having the inner portion of its curved margin folded inwardly and upon the upper face of the plane flange of the reinforcing member to hold same in tight and close en agement with the concaved bottom, the said folded a permanently concaved" part of the body forming an abutment In testimon tures. l

WALLACE M. WEEKS. .JOHN A. PEASE. 

